Geral let out a sigh as he gazed at Anabella's body, contorted in the infamous pillory. He longed to unlock her and escape together but knew his level was too low to even dream of accomplishing the feat. Even the NPC guards had twice his level, making them too powerful for him to overcome.

He pondered his options. Anabella appeared to still have an unbroken spirit, but with each passing moment in the pillory, the pressure on her would only increase. Geral felt the panic rising within him as he stood there, helpless to aid her. He knew that leaving her might be necessary to plan and prepare a rescue attempt, but the thought of leaving her alone, even if for a short period, was unbearable. Remaining there would provide her with moral support, but it wouldn't help free her.

While lost in thought and fixated on Anabella, Geral had not noticed Dalia approaching. He was startled to hear her speaking next to him. She directed her words to Anabella, saying, "I know you have bigger concerns, but you borrowed some books from the library a few days ago. Is there any chance I could get them back, or did you give them to the runaway slave?"

Geral's eyes glared at Dalia as he heard her trivial request. Anabella's life was in danger, and this insensitive librarian was pestering her for some books?

Anabella rolled her eyes and responded, "If your goons haven't displaced them, they must still be in my room."

“Thanks; with Geral's approval, I'll go check.” – Dalia said, then, as she wanted to leave, stopped and asked – “Just out of curiosity, what did you do with the city's history annals and other such books? What could you have possibly used them for?”

Geral just thought that nobody had asked for his permission before when they ransacked his house, but Anabella's answer upturned all his thoughts:

“You mean for an NPC?”

He exchanged a surprised look with Dalia, but Anabella let out a scoff and continued. "I highly doubt that sharing my research with you or anyone else will make any difference at this point, but if you must know, I was researching the history and lore of this world. It may not seem important to you, but to some of us, it's fascinating."

Dalia raised an eyebrow. "Interesting," she said, then sighed.

Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon.

“Well, I cannot force you to answer, but as you are condemned to die soon, your research will die with you if you do not share it.”

Anabella shrugged. "I have nothing to lose at this point," she replied. "And who knows? Maybe my research will be useful to someone after I'm gone."

Geral hesitated whether to tell Dalia to stop harassing poor Anabella, but the tone was friendly, and maybe talking about her research would help her think about something else, not about her imminent death.

Besides, he was also curious to learn what kind of research Anabella was doing.

Anabella let out a weak smile. “If you can get the guards to unlock me for a while, I would gladly share my research with you!”

Dalia shook her head. “Unfortunately, that is beyond my power. You are there by order of our lord Grackak, and I can do nothing about it.”

Our lord Grackak? Geral raised a brow hearing Dalia saying those words, but probably that was the accepted denomination to be used in front of NPCs. Dalia has never used it while in private.

Anabella chuckled.

“Well, it was worth a try. Well, I've made some interesting discoveries regarding the city itself, regarding the Silver Shrines, angels, and Cala.”

Dalia gasped. “Silver Shrine, angels, and Cala? That might be interesting!”

Seeing her interest, Anabella smiled.

“Interesting enough to allow me to go home, wash for one last time, and make love to my husband for the last time before being executed?”

Geral had no words surprised by the turn of events.

Dalia came closer and replied. "It may be. You need to tell me, and if the information is important enough, I may be allowed to grant you these, but you will not be allowed alone with him for any moment."

Anabella scoffed. “Now, really, you would watch us when we would be doing love?”

Dalia huffed. “Perhaps something can be arranged for your privacy if what you would be telling is really earth-shattering!”

Anabella chuckled. “Earth shattering!? Oh, Well, you can say that the Silver Shrine story is earth-shattering...”

But she didn't come to tell anything as Dalia had suddenly changed her mind and interrupted her with an agitated voice:

“Wait! Don't say a word about this until I am back!”